Overnight, the system had collected a great number of new cultivation manuals.
Yun Jin was very satisfied with this harvest. The manuals varied in grade, but all contained fragments of profound laws.
Each one held only a little, but accumulation led to abundance. If she gathered all the manuals under heaven, could she not eventually pave the way to her own Law of Five Elements?
Once she completed the Law of Five Elements and her cultivation reached the Mahayana stage, she would truly possess the strength to face the outer-realm demon gods head-on.
Ever since conversing with Heavenly Dao, Yun Jin's goal had never changed.
That goal was the outer-realm demons.
For them to make even Heavenly Dao this anxious, there was a high chance they would indeed descend upon this world. They believed this world was their slaughterhouse, that when they descended, they could kill at will.
But Yun Jin intended to give them a surprise.
Just a few more years.
By then, the Wushuang Sect alone would have grown to a terrifying height. And at that time, she would quite like to counterattack the outer-realm demon world herself.
-
The next day came.
It was the Golden Core stage duels.
Ever since the Wushuang Sect's meteoric rise, the tournaments now revolved around only three questions.
Could the Wushuang Sect take the championship?
Could the Wushuang Sect keep the championship?
And could the Wushuang Sect win to the very end?
This time, the sect fielded three Golden Core disciples:
Si Wanning.
Yu Songnian.
Shao Yunong.
No one dared underestimate them.
The weakest among them, Shao Yunong, was matched in the very first round against one of Xinghe Sect's seeded disciples. If this had been before, Liu Hua would have ridiculed the pairing, smugly mocking them. But today, tension gripped his chest. This was only the first round. Surely they wouldn't lose here?
"Senior Brother, greetings," Shao Yunong bowed politely, even a little shy.
The Xinghe Sect disciple exhaled slightly in relief. He had heard that the other two contestants were Yun Jin's Senior Sister and Senior Brother from her days in Tianxing Sect. By that alone, they were not to be trifled with. But this delicate girl before him seemed soft and gentle. Perhaps he still had a chance to win.
The referee gave the signal to begin.
Shao Yunong's shyness vanished instantly. Her clothes stirred, her eyes flushed red, and her fists clenched. Like a beast loosed from a cage, she charged straight at him.
A secret art?
The thought barely flickered across the Xinghe Sect disciple's mind before her fist smashed into his face. He tried instinctively to dodge, but his body was locked by her aura, unable to move.
Bang!
Her first punch struck his nose.
Before he could recover, her fists rained down, one after another, like a torrential storm. He fought desperately to resist, but this divine art carried a strange effect. Once she got close, it induced dizziness, robbing him of his ability to fight back.
In this state, Shao Yunong seemed half-mad, like a berserker, hammering fist after fist into his face. Only after a desperate struggle did the Xinghe Sect disciple find an opening to leap off the stage and escape.
Shao Yunong was still ready to pursue when the timer ended. Her eyes regained clarity.
Blushing faintly, she bowed again. "Senior Brother, forgive me. My talent is poor, so I can only rely on berserk form to be certain of victory.
If it were Senior Sister Si or Senior Brother Yu, they wouldn't need such trouble. They'd just finish you in a single strike." She truly looked apologetic.
The Xinghe Sect disciple's lips quivered. He could not utter a word. That explanation was worse than no explanation at all. Their strongest disciple had been beaten in the first round by Wushuang Sect's weakest.
Si Wanning and Yu Songnian dispatched their opponents even faster, leaving the crowd no chance to glimpse their true strength.
A heavy silence fell.
What suspense was left in this tournament?
None at all.
Unless they faced each other, the three Wushuang disciples were invincible. When Shao Yunong later encountered Yu Songnian, she conceded immediately. And so the final match was between Si Wanning and Yu Songnian.
"Senior Sister Si, go for it!"
"Senior Brother Yu, victory!"
From the stands, Yue Zhao resumed his old tricks, opening wagers for the crowd to bet freely.
The disciples of Wushuang Sect were relaxed, placing bets without worry.
Yun Jin watched with keen interest.
Between Second Senior Sister and Third Senior Brother, the odds were even. Whoever won would depend on the clash itself. The two had sparred many times before, each with victories and defeats. This time, neither carried any pressure. As long as the championship stayed within Wushuang Sect, that was enough.
The referee declared the duel open.
Both struck simultaneously.
Swordlight filled the arena.
Their clash was without doubt one of the fiercest of the entire tournament.
Lin Xiao narrowed his eyes.
Si Wanning.
Yu Songnian.
Even by his standards, for ones so young to have reached this level meant they were undisputed geniuses. Yet both had been nothing more than ordinary disciples of a middle-ranked sect. Just how many secrets did the Wushuang Sect conceal, to turn waste into jewels again and again?
After a long and grueling battle, Si Wanning finally edged out a victory by a single move, taking the crown.
It was no surprise.
Yu Songnian's abnormal condition still lingered, limiting his strength. If this had been a true life-and-death battle, he could have unleashed the power of the Wang's stone within him, and his strength would have been far beyond this.
But by the time his condition was fully cured, Si Wanning would not have been standing still.
The karmic threads binding her grew heavier by the day. Once she touched the threshold of the Law of Causality, her strength would become unfathomable.
These Senior Brothers and Sisters of Yun Jin each carried the potential to become peerless giants of their generation.
Thus, the Golden Core duels ended.
Once again, the Wushuang Sect swept the board.
Before the Sky City opened, none had imagined that after so many rounds of battle, the sect still dominated the top ranks.
If they kept winning like this…
Wouldn't they truly ascend in this very conclave?
To succeed in rising on their very first Grand Sect Ranking Conclave, and be crowned a new super sect?
If achieved, the Wushuang Sect would become legend.
No. With such a Sect Master, they already were legend.
"Wushuang Sect disciples, invincible among peers."
When Si Wanning declared it once more, none could refute.
Was it really true that no one could defeat Wushuang Sect?
"Our disciples are just too honest. They like to tell the truth," Yun Jin said with a playful smile.
Scattered bits of Emotional Value trickled in.
She glanced at the notifications and nearly rolled her eyes.
What was wrong with these people?
Why were they all so calm now?
They had fought so hard to win to the end, yet this meager trickle of Emotional Value was all she received?
Truly exhausting.
Harvesting Emotional Value was no easy task. She had to keep inventing new ways to provoke fresh reactions, or else people grew numb.
"Seven days from now will be the duels for Nascent Soul disciples. Another seven after that, the duels for Divine Transformation," Lin Xiao spoke blandly. "Those will be the last matches fought within the main city's arena."
By custom, Unity stage and higher duels would be held outside the city.
Beyond the walls of the Sky City, countless fierce beasts prowled.
The battles there would no longer be entirely safe.
There was risk, but also countless opportunities.
Only when the gates opened would one see the true Sky City.
Yun Jin smiled faintly. "I very much look forward to it."
===
Hi everyone! Just a quick announcement: I've hit the 20-novel limit on my Webnovel account, so I won't be able to upload any new projects here for now. To keep sharing my translations with everyone, I've decided to migrate my new uploads to AO3!
For my completed novels, I'll also be making them available in .epub format on Google Drive or TeraBox, so you can read them offline whenever you want. I'll put the links in the comment section. If you're reading on the app, it can be tricky to copy or open links there. In that case, please use your browser to access the web version at https://www.webnovel.com and, if needed, switch to desktop mode in your browser settings to copy/paste or access the links properly.
I've already started a new project there: "My VR Games Terrify the World"—I hope you'll enjoy it! Don't worry—all ongoing/serializing projects on Webnovel will continue here. I won't be abandoning anything you're currently following!
For extra safety, I'm also putting my translations on Royal Road (username: Reiya_Alberich) so they're accessible in multiple places.
If you'd like to follow my AO3 account, my pseud is Rikhi and you can find my profile here: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rikhi/pseuds/Rikhi
Or just search 'Rikhi' on it's search bar.
Thanks so much for your support, and I hope you'll continue to enjoy all the translations—both old and new—no matter the platform! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و
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Meng Shu never expected to wake up in a parallel world where VR technology is everywhere, but horror games are painfully primitive. His saving grace? A game development system that's incredibly easy to use, with a unique currency: player fear.
Every scream, every jolt, every moment of pure dread his players experience fuels his progress. With this terror tax, he can unlock the blueprints for every classic horror game from his past world. While everyone else ignores the genre, Meng Shu sees a golden opportunity.
He begins to unleash a series of VR horror experiences that leave players traumatized. Outlast has them pleading for mercy. Visage keeps them perpetually on edge, jumping at the slightest sound. SOMA plunges them into deep existential dread, and Alien: Isolation teaches them the true meaning of helpless fear.
From Silent Hill to Resident Evil and Five Nights at Freddy's, Meng Shu's growing library of nightmares has one simple goal: to become the undisputed master of fear and make the entire gaming world scream.